More not to like

The state's environmental protection agency does
not require operators of drilling-mud dump sites to post assurances
that they'll pay for clean-up of the sites.

Nor does the Arkansas Department of
Environmental Quality require such operators to get training and meet
the educational requirements that others who handle hazardous waste
must get.

Residents of Prairie and Lonoke
counties raised those objections at a mid-October hearing by the ADEQ
on a permit request by Prairie County Land Farm to operate a
land-application site. The company wants to spread drilling mud and
fluid byproducts from shale drilling near Crossroads, in Prairie County
near the Lonoke County line.

“I think it's crazy to not have a
financial assurance for these types of things,” Sam Ledbetter, a Little
Rock attorney who focuses on environmental law and represents
landowners and residents of the Crossroads community, said after the
hearing. “Clearly this is industrial wastewater, and there ought to be
some indication that these guys have the wherewithal to be financially
responsible for it,” he said. “I mean, if these guys leave, then who's
going to pay for it? What happens if they're just gone one day?”

Teresa Marks, who has been ADEQ
director for almost two years, said she doesn't know why “no discharge”
permits such as the one the Prairie County Land Farm seeks don't
require the permit holder to post any kind of financial assurance.

“These permits have been in effect for
almost 15 years, and I don't know why they have not looked at bonding
requirements before,” Marks said. “I don't know if there was just no
need to do it, if there had not been problems in the past — I just
don't know.”

Industrial and municipal wastewater
treatment facility operators and landfill operators must also obtain
licenses from ADEQ certifying they hold a high school diploma or
equivalent and have completed 40 hours of training. Licensees also have
to pass an exam.

Prairie County Judge Mike Skarda said it's ridiculous that the drilling mud applicators don't have to get licenses.

“I'm a farmer, and to put out
herbicides or pesticides on my land I have to go to school and carry a
card to buy chemicals, but these people don't have a lot of
requirements placed on them,” Skarda said. “Those folks at the meeting
made a really good point, because the people that own the disposal
sites take the samples of the water and the soil. You have to trust
that they're going to be honest, but they may not be.”

The permit would allow Prairie County
Land Farm to dump drilling fluids into two reserve pits and then apply
them on the land. The operations are controversial: There are currently
13 land-application sites in Arkansas. ADEQ inspection records exist
for 10 of those and every one has been cited for violations — pumping
drilling fluids directly onto the ground (they are supposed to be
spread around with a sprinkler system), exceeding the capacity of the
pits, expired permits, the presence of oil waste and failure to take
and submit soil samples.

Marks said she may ask the Legislature
for the authority to require companies that dispose of drilling waste
to be bonded. “We're looking at other states that allow these types of
operations and we certainly understand the concern that there might be
some kind of need for financial assurance. So we are looking at that as
possible legislation in the next session.”

Marks said the agency would be willing to explore ways to impose licensing as well.

Both the Prairie and Lonoke County
quorum courts have passed resolutions asking ADEQ to refrain from
issuing the permit until more research can be done on the overall
impact of such sites. Lonoke County Justice of the Peace Mark Edwards
said if something goes wrong at the disposal site, the burden would be
too much for the county to bear.

“Because it's likely there is going to
be some pollution, there's going to also be some clean-up involved,”
Edwards said. “I know the county can't afford to clean that up. The
owner could just file bankruptcy, turn around and walk away from this,
wash their hands of it completely, and they would not be financially
obligated.”

“I think ADEQ needs to put the brakes
on this and take some time to figure out the best way to handle some of
this stuff,” Ledbetter says. “If they don't have the authority to do
what needs to be done to reduce the impact of these operations, then
they don't need to be issuing permits.”